A lavishly illustrated account of the buildings of the friars in the middle ages, bringing them vividly to life. with contributions from Ian M. Betts, Jens Roehrkasten, Mark Samuel, and Christian Steer. Nominated for the Current Archaeology Book of the Year Award 2019 The friaries of medieval London formed an important partof the city's physical and spiritual landscape between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. These urban monasteries housed 300 or more preacher-monks who lived an enclosed religious life and went out into the city to preach. The most important orders were the Dominican Black friars and the Franciscan Grey friars but London also had houses of Augustine, Carmelite and Crossed friars, and, in the thirteenth century, Sack and Pied friars. This book offers an illustrated interdisciplinary study of these religious houses, combining archaeological, documentary, cartographic and architectural evidence to reconstruct the layout and organisation of nine priories. After analysing anddescribing the great churches and cloisters, and their precincts with burial grounds and gardens, it moves on to examine more general historical themes, including the spiritual life of the friars, their links to living and dead Londoners, and the role of the urban monastery. The closure of these friaries in the 1530s is also discussed, along with a brief revival of one friary in the reign of Mary. NICK HOLDER is a historian and archaeologist at English Heritage and the University of Exeter. He has written extensively on medieval and early modern London. IAN M. BETTS is a building materials specialist at Museum of London Archaeology; JENS ROHRKASTEN was Lecturer in Medieval History at the University of Birmingham; MARK SAMUEL is an independent architectural historian; CHRISTIAN STEER is an independent historian, specialising in burials in medieval churches.

About the Author
Nick Holder is a Senior Properties Historian for English Heritage and a Honorary Research Fellow for University of Exeter. He has previously graduated from University College London and Paris-Sorbonne University, with his PhD from Royal Holloway.

Reviews
[A] splendid survey. * CHURCH MONUMENTS *
The volume is handsomely produced by Boydell and Brewer and its primary contribution is an examination of the traces of the conventual complexes once occupied by the Blackfriars, Greyfriars, Whitefriars, Austin Friars and the Crossed Friars. * HISTORY *
An original, well-researched and readable account.extremely well designed and illustrated. * MEDIEVAL ARCHAEOLOGY *
A major contribution to our understanding of the medieval city. * LONDON ARCHAEOLOGIST *
Holder's use of a combination of documentary, cartographic, archaeological and architectural evidence is helpful to students of history who are learning to gather multiple kinds of material, not only for their evidentiary value, but also to determine how those many and different materials speak to each other and inform each other to provide us with helpful understandings about the past. * READING RELIGION *
There is an immense amount of information in this attractive and readable monograph. It should stand as the 'go to' study for many years. * MEDIEVAL REVIEW *
Holder and his team are able to come up with vivid re-creations of the [friaries'] buildings and precincts that would do justice to the late Alan Sorrell or a Time Team Special. This is a fascinating book which makes a major contribution to the history of the London mendicant communities not only as sites in an historic landscape but also as functioning communities which lay at the heart of a busy and densely populated city. * JOURNAL OF ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY *
A marvel of hard-won synthesis [and] a splendid survey of religious complexes which formed a significant feature of the medieval city. * THE LONDON JOURNAL *
Nick Holder has given scholars and those interested in the religious life of medieval England, in particuliar London, a valuable resource. Using maps, architecture, archeological discoveries, and written records, he has produced a valuable study of London friaries and their numerous influences on the city's population. * AMERICAN BENEDICTINE REVIEW *
[An] important study. [The author has] done a considerable service to monastic studies in London, and nationally, with this fine, clear and eminently readable book. * CURRENT ARCHAEOLOGY *



Book Information
ISBN 9781783272242
Author Nick Holder
Format Hardback
Page Count 384
Imprint The Boydell Press
Publisher Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Weight(grams) 1g